Don't tell me it's too late
by Rokuri
Summary: [I will wash away your pain with all my tears] SasuNaru hints. Rated for violence and character death. Oneshot. [...what is love?]


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This fic was spawned from an english assignment where we had to write what love meant without using the actual word. The title is from a line in a Sarah Mclachlan song Enjoy :)

'Don't tell me it's too late' 

Cerulean eyes burn into mine. Determination, sorrow, grief, sadness, hope…how could hope still exist in those eyes? I push my sword in deeper for good measure. He gasps in pain and squeezes his eyes shut, breaking our connection.

My eyes narrow as a few droplets of blood hit my cheek; I'll shatter any _hope_ he might have left. What gives him the right to hope for me? I left the village, I broke ties years ago, I'm following my own path, so why is he still persisting? My quest for revenge is all I have left, it has nothing to do with him. Why can't he just see that! I have to become stronger to defeat that person. I can't let childish bonds like _friendship_ weaken me.

His hand shakily grabs at my wrist, his grip firm and desperate. Tears leak out from his still clenched eyelids. He grits his teeth to keep from crying out, to keep from showing me his weakness. I've pierced him who knows how many times but still he stands. What foolish determination!

"Sasuke…" He chokes out a sob of my name, looking up at me again, the tears flowing freely now. Leaning in, he tries to get a better hold of me, trying to make me understand his pathetic logic, paying no heed to the blade penetrating him even farther.

"Sasuke…" He moans again "All of your hatred…I can't let you live with it…" Gasping for breath now, I probably punctured a lung at some point, "I can't…let you DIE with it!"

My knee strikes him sharply in the stomach, knocking him into the dirt, simultaneously drawing the sword from its fleshy sheath. His cries pierce through the twilit sky.

"Idiot. You're the one who's dying." I take a few steps towards him until I'm towering over his trembling form.

"Sasu…ke…"

I raise my blood soaked sword to hover over his heart.

"Tell me one last thing, Uzumaki Naruto." My voice is ice and I look down at him with a stony gaze. "Why the hell did you throw away all your stupid dreams just to chase after me and have it end here?"

He's silent now, just the unsteady breath escaping his lips. I stare into his eyes again and something seems to break in them. A new kind of hurt is there, a new look of one betrayed. For a moment I take it all in, the image in front of me. This boy, battered, beaten, drenched in a pool of his own blood, caked in dirt, curling in on himself, yet still glaring up at me, unwavering. Still full of stubbornness.

I feel a dull twinge in the pit of my chest for the briefest instant. A sort of falling sensation, as if in that second I had been dropped from somewhere high up, only to find myself in the same position, still pointing my sword at this pathetic boy. I'm impatient now.

"You've been sputtering so much unwelcome crap about your village and bonds that I'd imagined that you would jump at the chance to talk more! Three years ago, I told you to stay away from me, why the fuck did you spend so much time trying to find me just to confront me all over again!"

"..M…moron. Are you saying that you…really don't know? After…all this time…?" It's obvious that breathing is becoming difficult for him now. In his startlingly dry eyes I can see the fire of intent still burning, but his words are spoken softly, carrying a touch of irony. A lonely arm rises, trying in vain to reach me. His eyes become more tender.

"It's because…"

"Enough!" My eyes widen and I find myself gritting my teeth. I'm sick of his mind games; I don't want to be _"saved"_ by anyone! My grip tightens on the hilt.

He closes his eyes, tears leaking out anew.

"I lo—"

I press down; the flesh gives a final burst of blood. His eyes shoot open to lock with mine as he speaks the words soundlessly to me. I can tell precisely when he dies; when the light, the hope, leaves his eyes; when all I'm left with are these two hollow orbs, still staring, still trying to convince.

It's dark now. Naruto is dead. I'm standing alone in a field, looking down at this corpse of my former teammate. He's finally gone, this nuisance in my life. This idiot who spouts idealistic nonsense all the time. This loudmouth who can't keep his mouth shut in class for an instant. This moron who can mess up the simplest of tasks. This idiot of idiots who would always have a big dopey grin on his face no matter what…

A gentle breeze sweeps by, rustling his blond hair and the tall grass cushioning it. I can feel something cool on my face, I reach up and my fingertips meet with something wet.

"Rain…?"

I look up but all I can see are the stars.


End file.
